"Don't Expect Miracles From Buhari's Service Chiefs"

Nigerians have been asked not to expect any miracle from the service chiefs newly appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This was the suggestion of Captain Umar Aliyu (rtd), who was speaking during a live programme monitored in Lagos early Tuesday morning.

President Buhari had on Monday, July 13, fired the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin and Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and replaced them with Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin as Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General T.Y. Buratai as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff.Others include Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff; Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan as Chief of Defence Intelligence.

The President also appointed Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd.) as the new National Security Adviser taking over from Sambo Dasuki, who resigned last week.

And Captain Aliyu has noted that the Nigerian troops are now excited because of the appointments, especially as their morale had been rock bottom following the renewed onslaught of islamic insurgents, Boko Haram, in their territories.

He said: “It is not unusual to have this kind of change that we have now. When the explosions happened in the last few days, I wasn’t too impressed.

“If you look at the antecedents of the newly-appointed chiefs, they have had a past with training, logistics and formulations. This war would be fought on the field and on the minds more.”

While trying to proffer solutions to the challenges facing the Nigerian troops, he advised the new service chiefs.

He said: “they need to ask certain questions; how can we do what the outgone did differently? What could they have done differently that we can implement?

“The results would not be over night, Nigerians should not make that mistake. It is a strategic move by the presidency. Military strategies are dynamic, most of what we need to win this war are in the minds of the professors and not in the hearts of the generals.

“A revitalisation of troops’ morale will be witnessed, we also have to look at the welfare and operations within that sector, the service chiefs have to reach out to other specialists.

“These are steps that should be taken to ensure that the war against insurgency is won totally.”

Nigerians had yesterday, commended the appointment of the new service chiefs, as many believe it was a move that was long overdue.